A flash of humiliated anger crossed Aunt Xia’s face, but she quickly slid back into a pose of wounded innocence.
“Chaochao, how can you talk about your aunt like that? I’ve always treated you like my own daughter,” she said, the lines of false conciliation practiced and smooth.
“Xixi and Changlin are your siblings too. We’re family — why would you suspect us like this?”
Meng Ruchao gave a cold laugh. She had been standing back, watching for a chance to learn the truth; the others had done the same. Only now she realized they must have decided she was easy prey — so easy that they’d stopped pretending.
Fine. She could show them she had claws as well.
“Treated me like your daughter?” Meng Ruchao’s voice was level but cutting. “Aunt Xia, do you actually believe that yourself?”
“I may not remember everything from before,” she continued. “But don’t think I’m stupid. You know exactly how you’ve treated me.”
“And your so‑called virtuous children — when have they ever treated me like family?”
Du Changlin bristled at her rudeness toward his mother and sprang forward to argue, but Aunt Xia shot him a look that pinned him in place.
She drew a long breath, forcing her voice soft despite the tremor in her hands. “Chaochao, let’s not dredge up the past. You’re engaged to the Yan family now — you’re about to marry into a prominent household. You can’t keep behaving so impulsively.”
“Everyone’s at fault today. Let’s just let it go.”
Meng Ruchao recognized the attempt to smooth things over for the sake of appearances. She would not let it pass so easily.
“Let it go? Aunt Xia, it’s not that simple. Du Xixi tried to snatch my phone and then lied about me. Du Changlin shoved the display and almost hurt me. You expect me to just let that go?”
A smile the woman couldn’t maintain wavered. “What do you expect? Xixi did it for your own good. Changlin is still a kid; he doesn’t know better. Besides, if this blows up and the Yan family hears about it, won’t that be embarrassing for you?”
Hearing “the Yan family” used as a threat set Meng Ruchao’s teeth on edge. As far as they were concerned, her entire life was worth bargaining with to curry favor with the Yans.
“Kid? Your son is nearly an adult — if he behaves like that, it only shows poor parenting. You’ve failed as a mother,” she said bluntly, holding Aunt Xia’s gaze with a cool, sardonic lift of her chin.
Aunt Xia ground her teeth. “Don’t be ridiculous, Chaochao. Even if you’re engaged to the Yan family, this is still the Du household. Don’t forget you’re a Du daughter.”
Ah — now they were playing the Du family card. Trying to pin her down with an identity she didn’t even feel she owned.
“Mentioning I’m a Du daughter won’t work,” Meng Ruchao mocked. “I never felt any warmth from the Du family. And don’t use the Yan family to pressure me — if anyone is afraid of a scandal, it isn’t me. If you want this to blow over, you should make Du Xixi and Du Changlin apologize to me.”
Xixi let out a high, indignant scream. “Why should I apologize? She started it!”
Meng Ruchao’s eyes went ice‑cold. “Say that again. You were the one who lunged at my phone and tried to smear me. That was an assault. I defended myself.”
Changlin stiffened and called back, “I’m not apologizing either! You’re just leaning on the Yan family to bully us.”
Meng Ruchao scoffed, her stare sharp and luminous. “You call that bullying? Don’t flip the facts. Aunt Xia, clearly your parenting is at fault — your kids can’t tell right from wrong.”
Trapped between her children and the Yan family, Aunt Xia floundered. She remembered Yan Qiubai’s lingering interest in their household’s collaboration on the resort project — and that the Yans had bent to their request partly out of consideration for her. She weighed her options and chose peace over a public scene.
Through gritted teeth, she turned and snapped at Xixi and Changlin in a low voice. “Stop this at once. Apologize to Chaochao.”
Both youngsters stared, disbelief written across their faces. “Mom!” they cried together.
Aunt Xia pinned them with a glare. “Apologize. Or do you want me to bring your father into this?”
Neither of them dared escalate matters to Du Feng. Reluctantly, tiny as the sound of a mosquito, they muttered, “Sorry.”
Meng Ruchao raised an eyebrow. “Too quiet — I didn’t hear that.”
Aunt Xia shoved them forward and hissed, and this time, louder and sullen, they said, “Sorry.”
Satisfied, Meng Ruchao nodded once. “That’s more like it. Aunt Xia, do keep your children in check. Don’t come after me again — I won’t be so polite next time.”
With that she turned on her heel and climbed the stairs, never looking back. Aunt Xia and the two siblings were left standing there with their faces ashen.
Aunt Xia watched Meng Ruchao’s retreating figure, venom coiling behind her eyes. Xixi ground her teeth until her knuckles whitened, nails biting into her palms and drawing hot, surprised pinpricks that she barely registered.
“Mom, why did you make me apologize? I won’t stand for it!” Xixi snapped.
“Yeah, Mom, we can’t just let her walk over us — we have to teach her a lesson,” Changlin chimed in.
Aunt Xia took a slow breath, tamping down the anger. She patted Xixi’s shoulder. “We can’t go head‑to‑head with her now. The Yan family is backing her. We’ll have to play the long game.”
Xixi, feverish and dizzy, could barely think straight; hot tears of frustration spilled down her cheeks. “The long game? You’ve been saying that since she came back. How long do we have to wait? I don’t want to see her smug — Yan Qiubai should’ve been mine.”
A flicker of motherly pity crossed Aunt Xia’s face, quickly replaced by calculation. “Don’t rush, Xixi. He may be engaged now, but feelings change. Besides, your father said she hasn’t suffered much these past years — someone must have supported her. That’s the angle we can use. We make Yan Qiubai turn away from her. Once he does, she’ll have nothing.”
Changlin brightened. “Right, Mom. If Yan Qiubai rejects her, the Yan family will cast her off, and we can do whatever we want.”
“Exactly,” Aunt Xia said. “You two keep an eye on Meng Ruchao. Find something — anything — to use against her.”
Xixi wiped her face and forced a smile, a look that was all teeth and malice. “I’ll find it, Mom. I’ll make sure she can’t stay in the Yan family.”
As they schemed, Meng Ruchao lingered at the stair landing within earshot, listening. She frowned. Why would Du Feng say something like that? Had they really spread the rumor that some old man was keeping her? They clearly had no idea what she had been doing abroad.
Old man, kept by someone — the whole story was a lie they were using to control her. She let the thought darken into determination.